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The Pork in Katrina Relief

This should just piss you off! Our illustrious leaders at it again. They are sneaking pork into the bill for katrina relief!

Never underestimate the brazenness of incumbent politicians determined to sneak unfair rule changes into the game. Incumbent treachery is under way in the Senate, where Republicans are using a big spending bill as cover to try to gut campaign donation limits and give themselves an eight-to-one spending advantage over election challengers.

The move has the two champions of the campaign finance reform law - John McCain of Arizona and Russell Feingold of Wisconsin - livid, and demanding a showdown vote.

The plan, slipped into the transportation spending bill, would free incumbents to make unlimited "soft money" donations to the national party from their misnamed "leadership" political action committees. These are lawmakers' secondary campaign slush funds, in effect, but with a spending range limited by law until now. Under the Senate's snooker move, an incumbent's donation to the national party would be free for recycling right back through the new loophole as found money for the donor's own campaign. Allowing that would circumvent the three-year-old reform limits and establish dual campaign standards: a free and easy one for incumbents, and a tight one for challengers, barred from running "leadership" kitties. Challengers would be restricted to collecting $4,200 per person for a campaign, while a senator could collect $34,200 per donor for the same race.

The shamelessness of this ploy is underscored by its inclusion in a bill that includes some emergency money for Hurricane Katrina repairs - added cover, no doubt, in the eyes of supporters, whose first priority is political self-preservation.

Katrina is already being brandished like a scythe by House conservatives, who are determined to use the reconstruction cost as an excuse to further their age-old campaign to eliminate valuable government programs, including the public financing law that was intended to hold down the outrageously booming costs of presidential elections. http://thingsthatjustpissmeoff.blogspot.com/2005/09/pork-in-katrina-re
lief.html

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Senate Republicans Filibuster 9/11 Health Bill

In what appeared to be a last opportunity to provide medical care to New Yorkers who became ill because of working in toxic air after 9/11, Senate Republicans were just waiting for the Bush tax cut extension to be passed. What? You surprised?

Yep, the GOP stuck to the theme and filibustered the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act on a 57-42 vote.

According to the Daily News, some Republicans were considering voting for the bill (which costs $7.4 billion), until party leadership reminded them that they wanted the Bush tax cuts to be extended first. I mean, of course tax cuts for millionaires should take priority over the health of those affected by 9/11.

Even New York’s favorite millionaire himself, Mayor Michael Bloomberg — who, by the way, cannot escape the presidential question — accused his fellow Republicans of “wrongheaded political strategy,” adding that “we have a collective responsibility to care for the heroes, from all 50 states, who answered the call of duty, saved lives and helped our nation recover.”Read more: http://nyulocal.com/national/2010/12/10/senate-republicans-filibuster-
911-health-bill/#ixzz2GwIW0jgI]
If these newly-"principled" GOP representatives want to complain about pork and using unrelated legislation tacked on to further political agendas, they should stop doing it THEMSELVES before bitching about the opposition doing it!

Want a few more examples?

The Republican pork barrel http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/
08/04/the_republican_pork_barrel/]
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The Pork Barrel Hypocrisy of Republican Representatives Ryan, Cantor, and Boehner http://www.midnightdestiny.com/2011/11/eric-cantors-pork-barrel-hypocr
isy.html]
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Republicans lead pork spending lists: report | Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/04/02/us-usa-congress-spending-idU
SN0233511020080402
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GOP Reelection Strategy: Pork Barrel Spending http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/15/gop-reelection-strategy-p_n_1
07185.html
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The Tea Party Pork Binge http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/10/30/conseratives-brought-
nation-to-default-ask-for-govt-handouts.html]
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Feeding Time - Republican pork-barrel spending http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-70935173.html]
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Pork-Barrel Spending: Republicans Win Transparency, but $23 http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/06/pork-barrel-spending-
republicans-win-transparency-but-23-billion-slush-fund-remains]
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Tea Party-backed GOP freshmen pack defense bill with pork http://www.capitolhillblue.com/node/40931

I have ABSOLUTELY no doubt similar information can be found on Democrats' pork-barrel spending, but why do our right-wingers think they are scoring any points by complaining about pork in Democratic bills, when they're so fond of it themselves?

A pox on both their houses. But complaining about it against the Democrats is total hypocrisy when the Republicans do exactly the same thing.